“We looked up in the sky and there was this bright purple light just darting all around,” says witness David Friehauf. “It was too high up to be a toy. I just thought it was really strange.” Friehauf works at a local airport and is familiar with traditional aircraft. But he could not identify the unusual object with purple lights. He ran home to get his camera, and was able to capture a time-lapse photo of the UFO.

UFO over Kennewick. (Credit: David Friehauf/KULR)

He contacted local NBC affiliate KULR for help identifying the mysterious UFO flying over his neighborhood. The station concluded that the object was a toy plane. But it is unclear how it reached that conclusion.

KULR contacted Brett Bowen from Eagle Eye Theater Aerial Video and Photography who cautions, “Don’t fly around full scale aircraft traffic and don’t fly around your neighbor’s house at night.” He continues, “When it comes to this, common sense is the most important.”

(Credit: KULR)

Drones, quadcopters, and other sophisticated remote-controlled aircraft continue to grow in popularity within the consumer market. And LED lights affixed to these craft make it easier to fly at night. These objects are responsible for many UFO sighting reports. But as these craft become more common, it is unfortunately likely that investigators, law enforcement, and reporters will be too quick in attributing strange aerial objects to remote-controlled craft, leaving the truly unexplained unexplored.

]]>http://www.openminds.tv/witness-photographs-ufo-kennewick/29897/feed0Colorful UFO filmed near the beach in Chilehttp://www.openminds.tv/colorful-ufo-flies-beach-chile/28240
http://www.openminds.tv/colorful-ufo-flies-beach-chile/28240#commentsWed, 11 Jun 2014 22:04:28 +0000http://www.openminds.tv/?p=28240A colorful UFO was recorded on video by a group of young people in the city of La Serena in northern Chile.

UFO over La Serena. (Credit: Marcello Guzman/YouTube)

The video was recorded at the La Serena beachfront promenade La Avenida del Mar, a location popular with tourists. As Chilean news site El Observatodo describes, the UFO video shows a small yellow light moving in the sky at different speeds and quickly changing altitude. And, according to UFO Digest, one of the witnesses can be heard in the video stating that the UFO lands in an empty lot on the beach before ascending again.

The aerial object displays multiple colors as it zips through the sky, flying directly over the heads of the witnesses.

UFO over La Serena. (Credit: Marcello Guzman/YouTube)

This nimble light in the sky is fun to watch. But this UFO likely has a very terrestrial identification. The multi-colored lights and the movement of the object are consistent with a remote-controlled craft like a quadcopter.

The video was recorded on Thursday, March 13 by Gold Coast resident Jack Purcell, who describes that the object hovered above the sea. The witness was initially alerted to the UFO by his mother who pointed it out, thinking it was a colorful airplane. Purcell ran inside his home to retrieve his camera after seeing the object stop and hover in the sky.

The aerial object in the video flashes multi-colored lights in various patterns.

UFO over Gold Coast. (Credit: YouTube/Jack Purcell)

Purcell posted his video to YouTube with the following description:

Ok so I’m pretty sure I’ve captured a UFO on camera. Early last night we saw flashing lights in the sky and I ran and got my camera to record it. The cops came straight away and told everyone that they had no idea what it was and they were going to “call it in.” When I ran inside to get my phone, everyone said that they saw another huge light twice it’s size zoom across the sky and disappear. At the end of this video, I slowed the footage down and stabilised it and you can clearly see that it’s a giant triangle with flashing lights. After I finished recording, it zipped down really quickly and vanished. So weird. Sorry about the shaky footage, it was filmed on my handheld camera.

According to the International Business Times, “Gold Coast Police said it was notified about the object but believes it was a radio controlled device.” Further, a spokesman added, “If it was anything larger it would have been picked up by the air control radars.”

The educated guess offered by police is a plausible explanation, as the appearance and behavior of the UFO in the video strongly resembles a remote-controlled craft adorned with multi-colored LED lights, which have become common items sold by hobby shops and toy stores. But Purcell is not convinced that the UFO was simply a remote-controlled toy. He explains, “Keep in mind that this thing was at least four times the size of the police helicopters that flew by.”

]]>http://www.openminds.tv/video-shows-multi-colored-ufo-australias-gold-coast/26610/feed5Woman records UFO video in Leedshttp://www.openminds.tv/woman-records-ufo-video-in-leeds-1220/25212
http://www.openminds.tv/woman-records-ufo-video-in-leeds-1220/25212#commentsMon, 02 Dec 2013 16:01:09 +0000http://www.openminds.tv/?p=25212A woman used her cell phone to record video of a UFO in England on Sunday, November 24.

The witness saw the aerial object while she waited for a train in the West Yorkshire city of Leeds. The video she recorded with her phone shows an illuminated object demonstrating acrobatic maneuvers in the dark sky. The silent UFO is described as “white in colour with sudden and occasional changes to blue.”

UFO over Leeds. (Credit: Yorkshire Post)

According to the Yorkshire Post, the video was given to former police detective and editor of UFO Truth Magazine Gary Heseltine who has reportedly “ruled out the possibility that the object could be an aircraft, helicopter, microlight, laser or of atmospheric or astronomical origin.” But he believes that further analysis is needed.

Heseltine released the UFO video to the media with the hope of finding other witnesses.

Some have suggested that the object in the video could simply be a moth fluttering near the street lamp. But the recorded UFO behaves more like a remote-controlled airplane adorned with LED lights. Equipping RC aircraft with lights is quite common, and many retailers are now selling these toys pre-customized with LED lights to enable nighttime flying.

Hopefully Heseltine’s efforts will produce additional witnesses who will be able to confirm or rule out an RC aircraft as a possible identification.

]]>http://www.openminds.tv/woman-records-ufo-video-in-leeds-1220/25212/feed1UFO video shows two objects over Minneapolishttp://www.openminds.tv/ufo-video-shows-two-objects-over-basilica-of-saint-mary-in-minneapolis-1110/23315
http://www.openminds.tv/ufo-video-shows-two-objects-over-basilica-of-saint-mary-in-minneapolis-1110/23315#commentsWed, 14 Aug 2013 20:49:30 +0000http://www.openminds.tv/?p=23315A witness recorded video of two objects in the sky above the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis, Minnesota on the night of August 9.

According to the report he filed the next day with the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), the witness explains that he was walking in Loring Park on his way to downtown Minneapolis when he noticed the two UFOs hovering in the night sky. He explains, “At first I didn’t pay much attention to them as I thought it was just helicopters perhaps. But then, one looked like it was sort of checking out the Basilica. I’m not sure how far away they were, so it may have just been a quirk of viewpoint and unrelated to the Basilica.”

UFOs over Saint Mary’s Basilica in Minneapolis. (Credit: MUFON)

The witness took out his Galaxy Note 2 smartphone and recorded more than four minutes of video showing the UFOs over Minneapolis. He describes that the objects hovered back and forth, and each UFO appeared to have dual-colored lights. He doesn’t know what he saw, but in his report to MUFON, he states that he is “inclined to think that they were man-made.” He explains:

I think it was probably something of terrestrial origin and someone either testing out some kind of say . . . drone, or something, or putting on a show of some sort with RC craft. They kind of reminded me of those small automated drones from some of the universities you see videos of doing synchronized flying. That or perhaps small RC craft (but silent). At first I thought there might be some sort of propeller sound, but it was just downtown noise. As I made my way downtown no one else seemed to have noticed anything. (it was busy downtown)

KMSP Fox 9 looked into the sighting by contacting the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the FAA. Neither had received any sighting reports, nor had local law enforcement agencies. But Fox 9 also spoke with a man who suggests remote-controlled quadcopters as a possible identification for the UFOs. Tanner Becken, who works at Hobby Warehouse, told Fox 9 that the store has sold forty quadcopters just in the past six months. The quadcopter Becken showed to Fox 9 featured two colors of LED lights, which matches the witness’s dual-colored description.

From some angles it is like a green rectangle, and then it has a white object above it almost in a T shape in some angles. At times the white image is above it and at times it is below it. It is almost as though it is turning upside down. It is real hard to explain.

Others have reportedly seen the same, or a similar, UFO in the area.

According to the Queensland Times, Sollitt’s son sent the video to UFO Research Queensland president Sheryl Gottschall who concluded, “I’ve seen a lot of things, but I haven’t seen anything like that . . . not even on the internet. It remains unidentified.”

Sollitt told the Queensland Times, “As far as I am concerned it is an unidentified flying object, but whether it is earth-made or something from outer space . . . you just wouldn’t know.” But he opined, “It may be a remote-controlled object. But it is something in the sky and it is flying like a plane.”

The strange-looking object could very well be exactly what he described–a remote-controlled object flying like a plane. The online zine Who Forted? recently pointed out that glowing wings are sold for model airplane enthusiasts who want to fly their planes at night. And owners of remote-controlled gliders have been adorning their craft with LED lights to enable night flying for years.

Although an illuminated, remote-controlled glider is a likely identification for this mysterious object, no positive identification has been made, and therefore the object remains unidentified.

Watch the video below of an illuminated glider to see the similarities between it and the UFO recorded by Sollitt. And share your thoughts with us in the comments below, or on the Open Minds Facebook page.

]]>http://www.openminds.tv/man-films-green-ufo-in-australia-1022/21160/feed1Toy planes trigger UFO reports in Virginiahttp://www.openminds.tv/toy-planes-trigger-ufo-reports-in-virginia-858/17316
http://www.openminds.tv/toy-planes-trigger-ufo-reports-in-virginia-858/17316#respondWed, 10 Oct 2012 17:05:02 +0000http://www.openminds.tv/?p=17316Residents of Danville, Virginia have reported seeing strange lights in the night sky for the past several weeks, and always on Wednesday nights. The Danville Police Department has even reportedly received calls about these UFOs. But according to local paper The News & Advance, what people have been seeing are remote-controlled airplanes.

Marlo the Magician with his planes. (Credit: The News & Advance)

William Crawford, a local magician who is also known as Marlo the Magician, has been flying his RC planes from an empty parking lot for the past several Wednesdays. Orange, green, and yellow LED lights affixed to the wings and the tails of the airplanes make them visible in the night sky. The News & Advance explains that these airplanes are light-weight, several feet long, silent in flight, and can go as high as six-hundred feet.

Flying toys like kites, gliders, RC helicopters, and RC planes at night has rapidly grown in popularity because LED lighting provides an easy and affordable way to illuminate these objects, creating fascinating nighttime spectacles. But because of their unusual appearance, these objects routinely generate UFO reports by curious and/or concerned witnesses.

]]>http://www.openminds.tv/toy-planes-trigger-ufo-reports-in-virginia-858/17316/feed0Girl records video of daylight UFO in Ohiohttp://www.openminds.tv/girl-records-video-of-daylight-ufo-in-ohio-910/14834
Tue, 27 Mar 2012 19:10:29 +0000http://www.openminds.tv/?p=14834A 12-year-old girl recorded video of a UFO above her home in Penfield, Ohio (approximately 40 miles southwest of Cleveland) on Thursday, March 22.

The aerial object appeared during the day, and when the girl noticed the UFO, she recorded a 43-second video of it hovering in the sky. The object appears to be long and silver, and looks almost metallic when reflecting the sun’s rays. This UFO has a very shark-like appearance, making it a very peculiar flying object. According to the local ABC affiliate, local police could not identify the UFO, so they contacted Homeland Security for assistance with identifying the object.

There is a possibility that this object was simply a toy or a balloon based on its shark-like appearance. Shark-shaped remote-controlled airplanes and balloons are sold by a few toy manufacturers. An RC plane can be ruled out, based on the floating behavior of the object in the girl’s video. The balloon, however, is a likely identification.

The William Mark Corporation sells a product called Air Swimmers–remote-controlled, helium-filled balloons. A flying shark is one of the available models. And while the manufacturer clearly states the product is only for indoor use, the video below demonstrates that not everyone follows directions from the manufacturer.

Coincidentally, the same company apparently used to make a product called “My Mysterious UFO.”

There has been no official identification of the shark-shaped Ohio UFO. But a shark balloon that got away from its owner is a plausible explanation.

What do you think? Does the object in the video look like a shark-shaped balloon to you, or do you think it is something else? Share your thoughts with us on the Open Minds Facebook page.